Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

"Oh dear, the soldiers are exhausted from fighting for so long. There should at least be a rotation." Ikeda Tsuneoki sighed.

"The troops in Gifu are even more exhausted, and moreover, 1,100 people died in the Battle of Anegawa. Do you think Gifu still has any fresh troops?" Shichibei was speaking the truth.

Nobunaga's main force lost over two thousand men at Kanesaki and over a thousand at Anegawa. His main force only numbered a little over ten thousand, and in those two rounds alone, over three thousand men were killed, with no way to replenish their numbers in a short time.

As Nobunaga, you don't want to fight a war that will enrich you?

"Can't recruit any grunts in a short time?" Ikeda Tsuneoki was still naive, asking if there were any grunts with combat experience available for hire.

Not to mention that Nobunaga is now completely broke and heavily in debt, with no money left to hire men. The remaining soldiers in Owari have long since been wiped out by Saito Tatsuoki and Nagashima Ganshoji.

These two companies probably started preparing before the beginning of spring this year, and have been raising funds for several months. Meanwhile, Ikeda Tsuneoki is still raising funds—where is he going to raise them?

Would you dare hire those lowly soldiers in Ise who believe in Jodo Shinshu?

"Let's try to capture Kamijou Fortress as soon as possible..." Shichibei thought to himself, "With Ikeda Tsuneoki's level, I could do it too."

With the help of Takenaka Shigeharu, Aochi Shigetsuna, Kuwayama Shigekatsu, and Ota Gyuichi, the Kawamura family could easily organize an encirclement.

200. Shishan Raises an Army to Repel the Enemy of Buddhism

Seeing Shichibei's anxiety, Ikeda Tsuneoki suddenly thought of something. If Shichibei could gather his entire force, although 1,500 men would be impossible, 500 would be at least possible, and 1,000 would not be out of the question.

The Kawamura samurai corps was personally established by Nobunaga. Over the years, it was precisely because of the Kawamura samurai corps that Oda's army never had to worry about logistics when it went out. Nobunaga simply gave Shichibei a heads-up, gathered his men, and charged forward, leaving everything else to Shichibei.

This time, Nobunaga only took three thousand men into battle, and didn't bother with logistics. He planned to take advantage of Ashikaga Yoshiaki's forces once he entered Kyoto, and return in three days after reaching Settsu, so logistics were indeed unnecessary.

Of course, that's the plan; problems arose during actual execution, but that's another story.

So, the Kawamura samurai group, including Yoriki, probably doesn't have anything to do, right?

"What?" Seeing Ikeda Tsuneoki looking at him, Shichibei realized that this kid had his eye on them. Although for a moment, Shichibei had thought, "I could do that too," they weren't in this line of work. Killing people with knives was the business of samurai.

But Ikeda Tsuneoki, having finally grasped at a straw, was naturally unwilling to let go so easily, and directly grabbed Shichibei's sleeve. "Please, Shichibei, consider the affairs of the state, and for the sake of everyone who is risking their lives for Lord Nobunaga, lend a hand to your brother."

"With frequent battles, I must be prepared to go into battle at any time." Shichibei shook his head, giving a high-sounding reason.

The whole world is full of people who want to oppose Nobunaga, and Nobunaga is almost always at war. Under such circumstances, Nobunaga may indeed need to mobilize a large army to fight at any time. Once Nobunaga mobilizes his entire army, Shichibei will have to follow suit.

It would be more reasonable to ask Sakuma Nobumori for help than to ask Shichibei. At least everyone has something to do right now, except for Sakuma Nobumori, who is still stationed at Gifu Castle.

“Uemon can’t be moved. Didn’t you see that the lord hesitated for a long time before deciding not to bring him along?” Although Ikeda Tsuneoki was not very skilled, he understood the situation.

In fact, Sakuma Nobumori is the only remaining lid on the Oda clan's pot, while countless other pots are boiling outside. Once those pots boil, it's Sakuma Nobumori who has to keep them in check.

Even Nobunaga himself has gone to Settsu. The Sakuma Army is the last resort. Who can mobilize it unless it is a critical moment?

"You can't come looking for me then." Shichibei's official position was Noo Chikakata of the Oda clan, meaning head of merchants, in charge of all commercial activities in Owari and Mino provinces.

This is obviously not a job where you have to be a soldier and carry a gun.

"I don't need you to send troops. You just need to defend Ochiai Fortress for me, for only five days, no, three days!" Ikeda Tsuneoki was also going all out, preparing to send out all his troops to compete with Saito Tatsuoki for the Kamijō Fortress in the southwest.

"Three days?" Now that things have come to this point, Shichibei, being from Owari, couldn't be completely disrespected.

"Just three days!" Seeing that Shichibei's tone had softened, Ikeda Tsuneoki immediately wanted to make an agreement with Shichibei.

"alright."

There's no way around it; we're still stuck in the old Owari, old Oda, and old Shimoshiki district circles. If we help Ikeda Tsuneoki out today, he'll owe us a favor. Favors are unreliable, but sometimes they can work wonders.

Shichibei rode back to Gifu and earnestly reported the matter to Oda Myōmaru. He explained that he would be leading his troops away from Gifu for a few days to respond to Ikeda Tsuneoki's invitation to send troops. For the next couple of days, Oda Myōmaru would have to guard the gates of Gifu Castle himself.

Upon hearing this news, Oda Nobunaga was quite interested and hoped to go and see for himself, but Lady Nohime stopped him. With the country in turmoil and Nobunaga away on campaign for days, the household needed a legitimate son to hold the fort. If Nobunaga were to leave Gifu, it would be very detrimental to the morale of the people.

Very good, Lady Nohime is indeed a reasonable person.

Since that was the case, Shichibei agreed to Ikeda Tsuneoki's request and reported it to Oda Mystic Maru. Shichibei then gave orders to his many subordinates and the samurai and servants whose names were on the Kawamura Doshincho banner.

Takenaka Shigeharu brought eighty men, Aochi Shigetsuna brought fifty, and Tsuchida Chikakiyo, Kuwayama Shigekatsu, and Ota Gyuichi each brought a dozen or twenty. Even combined, they were still a few short of two hundred. Let's say Takenaka Shigeharu alone is worth five, so we'll go with two hundred.

Seventy riders, including Mori Jirozae, were placed there by Shichibei's wife, the young general. One hundred and sixty arquebusiers and archers were placed there from the Owari Tsushima territory (usually guarding post stations). Two hundred and fifty comrades were placed there from the Kanagawa region. Two hundred comrades were placed there from the Mino-Kana territory.

In addition, Nobunaga sent 200 small samurai, foot soldiers, and ashigaru, totaling 1,080 men.

The force consisted entirely of professional soldiers, with samurai making up more than half. The remainder were foot soldiers recruited from ronin and miscellaneous troops. Including temporary hires or grooms, junior soldiers, flag bearers, and others conscripted from the shop, the total number reached a staggering two thousand.

Normally, when they went out to work as small pack animals, they rarely mobilized the entire force. Furthermore, Murai Sadakatsu would sign off on laborers to join the small pack animals, easily bringing the number of people to five or eight thousand. Shichibei never really thought much of it, assuming it was Nobunaga's men, and that the vast majority of them were laborers with no fighting ability.

We never expected to see this happen when we personally mobilized the Kawamura family's forces to participate.

Even Oda Mystic Maru, who came to see Shichibei off, was surprised. "How can you have such mobilization power? Aren't you only worth 6,200 kan?"

At the rate of producing one foot soldier for every ten strings of cash, that's a maximum of six hundred and twenty men. Besides, who uses all their resources to mass-produce soldiers? Shouldn't they stockpile military rations? Shouldn't they replenish their weapons? Shouldn't they buy arquebuses?

Six thousand two hundred strings of cash can produce three or four hundred regular soldiers, and with an equal number of logistics personnel, a thousand men would still be a tight squeeze.

Unfortunately, there was no time for his doubts. Shichibei had already led his men south, preparing to participate in the siege of Kiyosu Castle. The troops were even carrying a large horse-drawn banner with two vertical lines and two horizontal lines.

Some say that Shichibei's surname is Kawamura. In Japan, the characters for "river" and "kawa" are interchangeable, so Shichibei could also be called Kawamura Shichibei Nagayoshi. If Shichibei lived long enough and his family business continued, he would be eligible to be linked to the Kawamura clan, the retainers of the Kamakura shogunate.

If we trace our lineage further back, we can reach Saeki Tsunenobu of the Fujiwara no Kita-ke Hidekō school. We might even be connected to Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, a pillar of the Kawachi Genji clan.

It all depends on future needs. The old noble families are either dead or forgotten. Who knows what the backgrounds of the feudal lords and samurai who have risen to power in this chaotic world are? Those who want to become Grand Chancellor go to the Taira clan, those who want to become Regent go to the Fujiwara clan, and those who want to become Shogun go to the Minamoto clan.

Genealogies are something that anyone can compile, no, anyone can make them.

After a day's journey, they finally arrived at the Iwakura camp. Lin Xiuzhen, who was left to guard Iwakura, was puzzled, wondering which group of people this was, as she had never seen them before. When she saw that it was Shichibei, she was equally incredulous. She had never seen Shichibei lead a team into battle alone before, and this was the first time she had seen that two-horse insignia.

But there's nothing to be surprised or confused about at this point. Nobunaga has been led around like a dog, putting out fires everywhere. The emergence of such a mobile army is more than a cause for celebration.

After spending the night at Iwakura, Shichibei set off for Ochiai Fortress. Ikeda Tsuneoki had originally estimated that Shichibei would send five or six hundred men, barely enough to hold the fortress. Ten kan (a unit of currency) to kill an ashigaru (foot soldier) was roughly the market rate. However, Shichibei actually sent two thousand men, greatly exceeding Ikeda Tsuneoki's expectations.

Because even with his 10,000 kan (a unit of currency), the lord of Inuyama Castle couldn't muster a force of 2,000 men unless he exerted his utmost effort. After all, his strength was relatively limited and hadn't received a significant boost.

What else is there to say? Let's get started!

As Oda's forces reinforced their encirclement outside Kiyosuno, the balance of power between the two sides in the Settsu-Nakajima region on the other side reversed.

Nobunaga assembled Hosokawa Fujitaka, Wada Koremasa, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, Hatakeyama Akitaka, and others, totaling 20,000 cavalry, to confront the Miyoshi Triumvirate's side of over 13,000 cavalry.

At the height of the tense standoff, the monk Kennyo of Ishiyama Honganji Temple finally issued a proclamation to Jodo Shinshu followers across the country, calling for the "Buddhist enemy" Oda Nobunaga, thus officially beginning the ten-year Battle of Ishiyama.

The thousands of monks and believers who had gathered at Ishiyama Honganji Temple immediately marched behind Nobunaga, preparing to join forces with the Miyoshi Triumvirate to attack Nobunaga from both sides and once again replicate the victory at the Battle of Kanegasaki.

Fortunately, Nobunaga had long harbored suspicions about the Honganji Temple and had ordered Niwa Nagahide and Hanawa Naomasa to keep an eye on Ishiyama, thus preventing a major chain reaction. However, the anti-Nobunaga forces now held a complete advantage in Settsu. Once Ikeda Tomomasa, who had taken control of the Ikeda clan, consolidated his power within his own household and led 5,000 men into battle, Nobunaga would be in dire straits.

To Nobunaga's utter surprise, after the Honganji Temple suddenly joined the battle, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who had been observing from the sidelines, actually took to the field himself, leading more than 2,000 shogunate officials and several thousand Tanba troops to support Oda Nobunaga.

The reason is quite simple: Ashikaga Yoshiaki had heard that among the leaders of the Ikko-ikki under the Honganji Temple was a fellow named Nijo Haruyoshi. This guy had been plotting to overthrow Ashikaga Yoshiaki and reinstate the shogun.

In fact, even now, Ashikaga Yoshiaki didn't intend for Nobunaga to be completely finished. His idea was to bring more forces into the central government, creating a power struggle among them, while he, as the supreme arbiter, would walk a tightrope to maintain balance. After all, while Ashikaga Yoshiaki wasn't good at fighting, intrigue and political maneuvering were his comfort zone.

Between two evils, choose the lesser; Ashikaga Yoshiaki chose to go and destroy the Hongan-ji Temple.

I can ignore your killing of Nobunaga and watch the show, but what's the meaning of you bringing along someone who wants to mess with me?

Those unaware of the true situation would find the reality absurd: Ashikaga Yoshiaki was simultaneously rallying support for Oda Nobunaga while also personally assisting him in attacking the Ikko-ikki.

The struggle for power is so complex and ever-changing. Even Nobunaga didn't expect Ashikaga Yoshiaki to personally come to protect his escape route, and thus the situation kept turning upside down.

Everyone continued to recruit reinforcements, attempting to gain a decisive advantage in troop strength before launching the final battle.

The Miyoshi Triumphs, having been repeatedly defeated by Nobunaga, had lost much of their fighting spirit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have built a castle and made long-term plans immediately upon landing. Their previous strategy was to march straight to Kyoto and kill Ashikaga Yoshiaki in the Nijō Palace.

In fact, this mode of warfare is relatively common. They mutually reinforce each other, maintain strategic composure, and avoid hasty engagements. Many people shared this view before the Battle of Sekigahara. Both the Eastern and Western armies were heavily formidable, and theoretically, there was no possibility of easily defeating or overwhelming the other.

Kuroda Kanbei judged that the two armies might fight a chaotic war in the Tokaido and Kinai region for one or two years, which would give him the opportunity to sweep across the entire Kyushu region and then wait and see.

Unexpectedly, the Battle of Sekigahara was decided in a single day, and there were no further significant battles afterward. The Western Army collapsed without warning, suffering a complete rout.

Sigh, now that Settsu is like this, Nobunaga hurriedly went to ask Matsunaga Hisahide if he could bring three to five thousand men.

Meanwhile, the Miyoshi Triumvirate were also actively urging Ikeda Tomomasa to quickly gather 5,000 men to join the war. However, Araki Murashige, who supported Ikeda Tomomasa's power grab, advised him to observe the situation calmly and not to rush things, as he wouldn't get a good price if he acted now. Although they were currently adopting an anti-Oda stance, in the chaotic Sengoku period of Japan, who could say for sure?

Tomomasa Ikeda wholeheartedly agreed and remained inactive, citing a readily available reason: domestic unrest required immediate pacification. The reason was perfectly plausible and flawless.

On the Settsu side, there was a standoff, with one side calling out to its allies; the situation was quite different on the Owari side.

Having finally gathered enough provisions and weapons, and recruited a large number of ronin and believers, the Nagashima Ganshoji Temple was ready. Taking advantage of the good weather, they harvested the rice ahead of schedule and decided to launch their rebellion.

Thanks to the flapping of its small wings, Nagashima Ganshoji gained a close ally—Kiyosu Saito Tatsuoki.

Therefore, the original strategy of relying on Nagashima to fight and restore the entire northern Ise region changed to fully supporting Ryuko's struggle while simultaneously capturing northern Ise. The goal was to have Ryuko hold the line against Oda's army, allowing Ganshoji to absorb the entire northern Ise region and establish a second "people's country".

In the past two months, the Oda army's pressure on Kiyosu Castle has become increasingly intense, with both sides engaging in repeated battles over the Kamijō Fortress. The casualties have been no less than a hundred, and reinforcements have been urgently needed.

Saito Tatsuoki's idea was that the Nagashima Ikko-ikki should send about a thousand men, and Kiyosu Castle should also send about a thousand men. Two thousand men would be enough to break through the defenses of Ikeda Tsuneoki and Hayashi Michimasa, who only had a little over a thousand men besieging Kiyosu.

After defeating the two, Longxing then mobilized all his remaining troops in Qingxu City to form an army of four thousand men to launch a fierce attack on the Iwakura Jinya to the north.

If Iwakura is captured, the four counties of Owari will inevitably be shaken. Not to mention the possibility of retaking Mino, just the fact that Owari will be thrown into chaos is enough to give Oda Nobunaga, who is forced to stay in Settsu, a hard time.

If Owari were to fall into chaos, Nobunaga's forces would suffer an even heavier blow than the retreat from Kanesaki.

Chapter 201 A big bee rises in Changdao

Upon entering Ochiai Fortress, we found that Shichibei had participated in drafting and designing this small fortress. It can be understood as a small square, only a few dozen meters long and wide, without walls, only a wooden fence and an open moat.

However, as mentioned earlier, Iwakura Castle, belonging to the Oda clan and the governor of Owari Province, was the administrative center of a territory, measuring 104 meters wide from east to west and 169 meters long from north to south. Decades of war revolved around this small castle, roughly a hundred meters square. In comparison, Ochiai Fortress wasn't small at all.

Wooden platforms were set up near the wooden gate to provide cover for friendly arquebusiers and archer foot soldiers during the battle for the gate. Other areas were simply made do with what they had, as long as there was some cover, that was enough.

Don't think this thing is useless. When everyone can only mobilize two or three thousand people, or even fewer, like Longxing right now, which has only managed to gather a little over three thousand people despite its best efforts, this thing works very well.

Five cheap and simple fortresses, each requiring only three hundred men to defend. When Long Xing led his troops to attack the fortresses, his forces were too few, including few core warriors, and their fighting strength was too weak to break through the defenses.

More people? That's great! The forces from several nearby forts will immediately join forces to attack your stronghold. Anyway, these forts are very easy to build; just dig a ditch and put up a fence.

In small-scale village conflicts, this is almost an unsolvable method of warfare.

Once the fortifications are built, with several fortifications only a few hundred meters apart, at most a kilometer apart, they will support each other, ensuring a tight siege of the city. After a six-month siege, most of the soldiers inside the city will starve to death, and the city will be captured.

Sometimes it's really unnecessary to mock someone's poor war-fighting skills; it might just be the most suitable tactic for the local situation. It's like someone buying steel pipes from Laiyang, buying gas cylinders, or getting some white sugar.

Never mind how crude this method is; it works really well there. It's cheap and easy to teach. I'll teach it to you today, and tomorrow you can teach it to dozens of people. The day after tomorrow, everyone will be able to go into battle with dozens of gas cylinders.

"I can't stay away from Gifu for long, you have to hurry." Shichibei inspected the Ochiai Fortress and made a very direct request to Ikeda Tsuneoki.

He, Inuyama, receives 10,000 kan, and I receive 6,200 kan. We are both senior retainers and advisors of Nobunaga. Besides, at a time like this, why beat around the bush and speak so subtly?

"Don't worry, it will take five days at most. I'll try to take down the Upper Fortress within three days." Ikeda Tsuneoki still had some courage.

His lack of skill doesn't mean he's completely useless. Besides, he's carrying the gun for his sworn brother Nobunaga; they're practically inseparable, so he'd definitely risk his life for him.